For months, Zelensky has been striving to maintain a delicate balance: engaging with Trump, who has promised a swift agreement to end the war, while insisting on Ukraine’s participation in any discussions leading to such a deal. This balance became even more precarious last week when Trump spoke with Putin before informing Zelensky and his Ukrainian allies.
On Wednesday, Trump, echoing the Kremlin’s narrative, condemned Zelensky as a “dictator,” seemingly shattering Ukraine’s remaining hopes. On social media, Trump warned the Ukrainian leader to “act quickly” and reach an agreement with Russia, “or his country will cease to exist.”
Trump’s engagement with Putin appears to mark a dramatic reversal of years of U.S. support for Ukraine, though it may also be part of his latest hardline negotiation tactics. In a speech on Wednesday evening, he reiterated these attacks, accusing Zelensky of wanting to prolong the war—a conflict that has devastated his country and claimed tens of thousands of lives.
Shocked European allies rallied behind Zelensky. “Forcing Ukraine to surrender would mean the surrender of the entire Western society. This fact will bring various consequences,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on social media. “Do not pretend not to see this.”
U.S. officials defended Trump’s approach.
“President Trump is pushing this matter forward rapidly. Some may not like the sequence of events, but you have to talk to both sides and bring them to the negotiating table, which is what we are doing,” said National Security Advisor Mike Waltz on Fox News.
Christopher Chivvis, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said, “It is entirely possible that President Trump has decided to abandon Ukraine, and I think some in the government might be content with that.”
“But this could also be part of a negotiation strategy aimed at softening Ukraine’s stance as much as possible, making them more likely to accept a deal that is bound to be very difficult in the ongoing talks with Russia,” he added.
General Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, told Poland’s Defence24 on Wednesday, “To be honest, without the U.S., we would be in a very difficult position.”
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, known for his provocative remarks like Trump, called for calm in the face of Trump’s statements, suggesting their purpose was to “shock Europeans into action.”
Trump’s attacks on Zelensky may also be an attempt to exert greater pressure on Kyiv to agree to a deal that would transfer future mineral rights potentially worth billions of dollars to the U.S. Last week, the president sent Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to present a draft agreement that would sign over more than half of Ukraine’s mineral and other resource values to the U.S. in exchange for American economic support.
Zelensky rejected the proposal, which lacked details of the proposed U.S. support, calling it “not a serious negotiation.”
